A giant television screen erected by the council in Birmingham city centre which has remained unused for more than a year has cost taxpayers almost £1 million.

The screen in Victoria Square, Birmingham, has been the subject of a High Court injunction preventing it from being turned on.

Objections about noise were raised by the owners nearby office block Waterloo House, who were also granted a judicial review of the council's decision to grant itself planning permission.

Birmingham City Council has spent £985,000 on the screen, including legal fees, according to figures released under a Freedom of Information Act request by the Birmingham Post.

The council then spent a further £22,000 hiring temporary screens to show the Olympic Games.

Fiona McEvoy, West Midlands spokeswoman for The TaxPayers' Alliance, which campaigns against wasteful spending by public bodies, said: "If the council hadn't been so arrogant to begin with and hadn't railroaded through the planning permission, then this waste of money could have been avoided.

"Too often Birmingham City Council seems to get obsessed with prestige projects regardless of local concerns over the cost to taxpayers."

A fresh planning application has been made in consultation with Waterloo House, which will go before the planning committee in the next few months.

The council wants to show sport and music events, as well as BBC news and council information films on the screen.

A Birmingham City Council spokesman insisted: "The big screen will be another great asset for the hundreds of thousands of people who use civic space for their leisure and enjoyment."